<p>Today's mobile phones come with a rich set of built-in sensors such as accelerometers, ambient light sensors, compasses, and pressure sensors, which can measure various phenomena on and around the phone. Gathering user context such as user activity, geographic location, and location type requires continuous sampling of sensor data. However, such sampling shortens a phone's battery life because of the associated energy overhead. This article examines the root causes of this energy overhead and shows that energy-efficient continuous sensing can be achieved through proper system design.</p>